U.S. Official Says No Affair Between Allen And Kelley

Source: TPM

PEMA LEVY 11:39 AM EST, TUESDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2012

A U.S. official close to Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, said that there was no affair between Allen and Jill Kelley, the woman who received threatening emails from Paula Broadwell and who has reportedly exchanged hundreds of emails with Allen over the past few years, the Washington Post reports.

“He’s never been alone with her,” the senior official said. “Did he have an affair? No.”

The senior official also emphasized that the volume of communications between the two “was nowhere near” 20,000 to 30,000 personal messages. The official said the high page count reported by the FBI may have been the result of printing numerous individual messages that contained lengthy threads of earlier exchanges. ...

6. Yeah. Riiight. Check his Viagra prescriptions.

9. Honestly

it appears that the "affairs" affair was just the catalyst for the bigger picture to surface. I think the claims of sexy emails was just a red herring. There is sooooo much more to this and what we the people are finding out through our own research is that we have been played since the shrub and company took over, now the clean up is taking place. I think that Obama and crew had to work hard all of the first term to gather up enough evidence to go for the kill, so to speak, on exposing them.

If that's really what is taking place, I say BRAVO for chumping the chumps at their own game. It's been a long time coming and I am glad I lived to see it happen. Those POSs ruined my life twelve years ago and I'm glad to see them get theirs... I hope this house cleaning spreads like wildfire to kill the virus that has trashed our national well being. Maybe I can have another chance at picking up the shards of my life and get stable before I'm too old and end up eating cat food while living in a cardboard box! And on a national scale, I think it will be a healing balm, a catalyst that allows all of us to change course and take appropriate action to truncate our own self inflicted demise as a people, a nation and as a species.

14. I'm viewing this

as a positive and I think that it may well be an expertly executed orchestration of reversing the bu$sh leagues silent coup d'etat that we all saw and could do nothing about. What if Obama has been just letting them have all the rope they needed to hang themselves and now he's applying the tension to secure the noose?

21. A lot of truth to that statement.

18. I agree with you and am truly sorry for your experience. But fear that as the Nixon debacle did not

solve or deter campaign dirty tricks by any means, it just increased the need and fixes and probably financial cost for getting caught. Big scandals started with much smaller, private events, progressively covered up. Many good people get hurt...in the coverup, much fewer in the actual liaison.

The military culture may ultimately have to grow past our 19th century Victorian roots. A big part of the core of that culture of sexual sin/purity was the domination and protection and ownership/chattel of "good" women barefoot and pregnant...as well as minorities. It also included the political Gentlemen's Agreement that held until Democrat Gary Hart, as I recall.

There is historical evidence as to why the racial and gender integration of the services/culture was blocked in so many ways. Danger, power, intrigue, being away from home create powerful urges and needs...regardless of gender, race or culture. Needs that were, throughout wartime history, handled through looting and pillaging or "arrangements", are available in one's own camp.

My heart breaks for everyone involved now and in what appears to be the upcoming long, public cataclysm. And I have noticed that the most publicaly chastised informers or participants in political/power sexual matters, are predominately women.

19. BINGO!! You totally get it.

PBO has been dealing with a roach problem in the military ever since he took office. And yes. It is an attmpted coup d'etat of our duly elected government. Don't forget how McChrystal was taken down - embedded journalist who published word for word quotes of their disrespect for their commander-in-chief.

I wish people had more patience. PBO always plays the long game. He never gets sidetracked by short-term bullshit. I tend to follow his lead.

15. Cheer up

the NSA still has years of stuff they haven't gone through yet, I don't think they expunge that stuff. Sooo, maybe The Hague will have some input before the end of next year with all that allegedly deleted stuff available all of a sudden. Bush&co went out of their way to piss off everybody else on the planet, I don't think they'll soon forget and maybe they'll have the laugh after all. Or at least the final word in court.

10. Honorable men and women have feet of clay....in reality and as judged on the Sainthood Spectrum.

Each scandal for "normal, human aberrations" determines the coverup; from petty break-in, enjoying the favors of hot and horny women thrilling at the bedding of powerful men, not-hot, horny and powerful men away from wives seeking companionship and physical/sexual reminders of their power, and those anxious to create their own "star" or book deal or get revenge. (also reverse gender or gay) Which is worse...adultery or unrestrained and financially lucrative revenge?

It sets the bar higher and higher for those willing to risk public service and the potential global exposure and inch-high headlines on the National Enquirer at every grocery waiting line, and internet opinion sites, many vicariously living their own fantasy lives.

Apologetics? No. Reality? Yes. End of the world as we know it? Not in the beginning, but perhaps in the salacious, hypocritical, ass-covering and favor-demanding coverup made necessary by the Victorian Public. They prefer to pay to watch vicariously...tv, movies, internet.

Will the next Saint please come forward to run for public office or public service? Sinners ... past, present or future, need not apply. Those few truly morally qualified and financially capable, consistently decline. Thus, the pay will, by necessity, escalate, and the candidate quality will likely degenerate after each Hanging in the Digital Public Square.

If every person in public service or public office resigned today who has had an affair, tried to get political information on their opponent, watched or downloaded porn, tweeted or IMd or emailed improper private thoughts, or kept silent rather than become a public, political or career scourge, we'd be in a self-righteous and literal world of hurt.

25. This is only a guess from this poster,

but Kelley, her husband and her sister were all in very bad financial situations.

Sometimes people will do odd things to get money and they aren't always thinking of others when they do so.

Broadwell was military intelligence. It was reported today that she warned Allen about Kelley. And some of Broadwell's e-mails, which I saw posted somewhere late last night, didn't sound like they were directed exclusively at any romantic relationship between Kelley and Petraeus.

Which leads me to wonder if Kelley, and maybe her sister, were looking for blackmail-worthy documents or testimony, or at the worst case, were looking for intelligence that they could sell.

Could this be what Broadwell's father meant when he said that this was part of a much bigger story?

I can't get these ideas out of my head, and I need someone here to talk me down.

27. And...

Kelly's twin sister is a high-end attorney for whistleblowers. The Kelleys live in Tampa and I think they were at the famed 47% party. Maybe your thoughts are correct, I've been trying to figure out their role. I don't think any of the emails had anything to do with sex. I think it was that they may have been promised something when the deal was done with the coup. I suspect that they were keeping tabs on the generals and that they figured out that their cover was blown during the incident.

Petraeus went to Banghazi really recently and I think it was a briefing that was meant to coordinate everyone with the script. I also think those four were killed because they may have discovered the plan and tried to thwart it. When Petraeus got back to DC, he was called out... the rest is now becoming public knowledge.

Broadwell seems to have disappeared so suddenly... the whole family it seems. And the FBI isn't talking to her now? That seems odd. She may have been a mole and helped to get the goods on the general, it's been said she didn't have much talent for biography but she was savvy on military strategy. So she was either seriously for or against the general, sex or no. I'd like to know what her role actually was, I'm leaning toward co-conspirator though. Again, I don't think the sex thing is a serious component here, more like a red herring for smokescreen.

30. I'm not up on the take-over theory, so I'll have to defer comments

33. That's okay

I have just had a lot of time to invest in reading as much as I can about it, I'm a policy wonk and government watcher so I go after finding out as much as I can when a perplexing story comes out. It sure cured my temporary boredom while I heal up from a job injury...

28. Interesting thoughts. You may be right.

Otoh, Petraeus has stated that he was 'surprised' by Broadwell's attacks on Kelley'. Wouldn't he know what her concerns were if those were her reasons for contacting Kelley? And why do it anonymously?

She could have, eg, gone to Petraeus or any of her contacts in Intelligence if she was concerned about nefarious activities involving Kelley and others. Seems odd for her to approach it the way she did, especially if she knew of Kelley's connections to the FBI and to the General Allen.

Still, nothing is impossible. But if they were planning to blackmail anyone, that was pretty insane considering they were dealing with the FBI and the CIA and top Generals. It would not have been a very smart thing to do.

29. I'm not sure that Broadwell knew that Kelley had FBI contacts,

but you're right about Petraeus's surprise, if in fact the surprise was real.

Also, you're right about Broadwell's approach.

I guess that the thing that really set this off in my mind is the Kelley's complete lack of funds. They are bankrupt and their McMansion has been forclosed on. They are losing the building that held Dr. Kelley's surgery practice. Apparently, their losses are related to the Florida real estate collapse. The sister also went through bankruptcy and lost custody of her son. Both Petraeus and Allen are supposed to have written letters to the court on the custody matter vouching for the sister.

One cannot get a security clearance if one is in the midst of financial woes. The temptation to sell information is thought to be too great.

23. Kelley is said to be a Middle East "back channel" of some kind.

These emails with Gen. Allen were probably about that. And I say (based on my gut) that she, as this back channel, had something to do with the RW attempted set up about the Benghasi attack. When Petraus did not support that pov in his Congressional testimony, she may have decided to (or someone told her to) "get him" via exposing the Broadwell "threats".

I also have a hunch that Broadwell's warning Kelly off of Petraeus, had something to do with her knowing that Kelley was about to botch the whole plot connecting all of them (not "stay off my man"). Protective but not sexual.

So I'm thinking that Petraeus either screwed up the plot, or got cold feet part way into it, or wouldn't go along with it and fell on his sword.

Just a hunch for two cents. In any case I think Kelley and these emails are the central part of this.

31. Well, Kelley didn't know who the emails were from until her 'friend' in the FBI reported them

and the FBI uncovered who it was. Not sure when they found out it was Broadwell. And not sure her 'friend' was ever told since he was taken off the case because of he was too 'personally involved'. I guess exchanging half naked photos of yourself with the 'subject' is pretty personal.

I think we know nothing right now. But you're right, there is a whole lot more to all of this than just an affair, or two affairs, or how ever many there were.